Thursday, July 26, 2007

Random Comic Notes

When the San Diego Convention gets going we used to get tons of big announcements, the last couple of years haven't been that way, but it is always fun to follow the news as it comes out. The first announcement that I read that has me jazzed is Matt Wagner and Amy Hadley doing a Madam Xandu series for Vertigo. I have always had a fondness for this character, even though she hardly ever shows up in that many series. So this is an exciting event.

Another huge piece of news that come out recently is Dark Horse is going to be reprinting the old Creepy and Erie material from Warren Publishing and are doing new books with those names. I hope that they cull more of a best of and do them in a quality format as oppossed to the mammoth black and white formats that are so popular, reprinting the entire run. Either way I'm a happy camper to see this material see the lot of day again. I found this really amusing as it was recently I had wished for an Archives type format of this material.

The following is a press release from Archaia Studios for upcoming books.

LOOKING FORWARD WITH ARCHAIA STUDIOS PRESSPress ReleaseArchaia Studios Press (ASP) is so proud to announce five new titles coming your way later this year and in 2008, we just couldn’t wait until San Diego Comic-Con to unveil them. In The Engineer, The Many Adventures Of Miranda Mercury, The Bonds Of Saint Marcel, The Sisterhood, and Cursed Pirate Girl, we’ve gathered talent far and wide to bring more of what we feel define our books, and have allowed us to acquire a growing legion of fans: idiosyncratic and creator-driven comic books and graphic novels in the fantasy, science fiction, horror, and crime noir genres.Joe Illidge, comics editor at ASP, said, “I’m thrilled to help bring more diversity to the comics’ playing field, both in creators and content. Our newest creators are journalists, screenwriters, and novelists. They’re veterans and new players. These new titles fit perfectly in line with the vision and brand of ASP.

”THE ENGINEER An ancient sentient entity is feasting on the very fabric of space and time. Only one man can stop it: The Engineer. Utilizing a colossal pipe organ that enables pan-dimensional travel, The Engineer pursues the lost components of The Konstrukt, an archaic mechanism that imbues whoever possesses it with the ability to manipulate reality itself. The Engineer endeavors to restore The Konstrukt, using it to defeat the creature and undo the incalculable damage already done. THE ENGINEER #1 (of 4, Writers: Brian Churilla and Jeremy Shepherd, Illustrator: Brian Churilla, Colorist: Jeremy Shepherd, $3.95, 32 full-color pages, Ages10 and up for Mild Violence) releases Nov 2007.

THE MANY ADVENTURES OF MIRANDA MERCURY From writer Brandon Thomas (Fantastic Four Tales, Spider-Man Unlimited, Robin (forthcoming)) and artist Lee Ferguson (Marvel Comics' Heroes 9/11) comes THE MANY ADVENTURES OF MIRANDA MERCURY. She’s the greatest adventurer in this, or any other galaxy, the kind of old-fashioned, classic science-fiction heroine that can successfully defeat The Time Raiders of Xaxium, brave the wonders of The Glass Planet, survive The Perils of Yor, and battle The Infinity Class to a veritable standstill! All while facing the one enemy that perhaps even she cannot defeat, a microscopic poison rushing through her veins, courtesy of her greatest adversary, Cyrus Vega. With only one year left to live, Miranda Mercury will have her morality tested and values shaken to see her life’s mission completed. Release date: Feb 2008.

CURSED PIRATE GIRL, written and illustrated by Jeremy Bastian, is an epic fairy tale of a cursed girl in search of her father. The only things she knows about her father is that she will find him on the Omerta Seas, and that he is a pirate captain. The fantastic waters of the Omertas hold many strange and dangerous creatures and forgotten evils; enlisting the help of two armored swordfish and a parrot with a secret agenda, Cursed Pirate Girl sets out on the perilous journey to find her father among the remaining pirate captains. But instead of a glorious reunion, the scheming of interlopers leads her to resurrect her father's most dangerous foe. When her friends and allies fall beneath the terrible sword and sorcery of this old enemy, it is Cursed Pirate Girl who comes to face her father's bane. Set in an imaginative version of our world in 1728, filled with the stuff of sea legend: underwater lavafalls, sunken cities, a turtle sea witch, the silver coral court, a titan squid named Jenny, Davey Jones’s locker, ghost seamen, and the most interesting pirates imagined all lie in wait for Cursed Pirate Girl on her adventures. A series of six 36-page comic books beginning March 2008.

THE BONDS OF SAINT MARCEL Catherine Johnstone is the black sheep in an old Boston family whose wealth and influence stretches back to the American Revolution. When Cat’s family is murdered, she discovers that the only one who can save her life is Eamann, a vampire that was bonded into her family’s service against its will 200 years ago. Running for her life, Cat forms an unlikely friendship with Eamann. But as she uncovers more about her family's past, they discover the killers are only hunting Cat in order to set Eamann free. THE BONDS OF SAINT MARCEL is written by Jennifer Quintenz and with covers and layouts by Christian Gossett (Red Star). A six-issue series beginning early 2008.

THE SISTERHOOD The writers of Talent, The Menagerie, and Force Majeure---Christopher Golden (Baltimore, Hellboy: The Lost Army) and Tom Sniegoski (Angel)---team up once again to tell the tale of THE SISTERHOOD. When heavily-armed commandos massacre a convent of nuns from the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, the very worldly Eden Parish is dispatched by her superiors to investigate what’s happened to her Sisters and why. She uncovers a dangerous and indeed demonic conspiracy, a threat from within the Order aimed at its very foundation, its very purpose, and she will be tested to the limits of her endurance and resolve to defeat it. THE SISTERHOOD is written by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski, with art by Wellington Alves. A three-issue series beginning early 2008.All ASP titles are available at all finer comic book stores and bookstores everywhere.

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Between this publisher, BOOM studios (hi Chip), IDW, Avatar becoming a player, Image, Dark Horse and Vertigo comics, you can find a lot of fantastic titles and RED 5 Comics begins in October. So make sure that you look in the back of the preview catalogue. While I have great love of super hero books and read a lot of stuff from Marvel and DC, some of the absolute top books come from outside of the big two.

Upcoming postings are the Dark Horse / Image October Preview Review, The Independent October Preview Review and a review of all three RED 5 comics. The publisher was kind enough to send out an advanced digital copy to this site and with three new titles, Lee, Brainiac6 (Gwen) and I each are reviewing one book.